1. Field
The invention pertains to information displays, in particular to liquid crystal displays, and can be used in the indication devices of various function, as well as in optical modulators, matrix systems of light indication, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are known liquid crystal information displays, implemented as a flat cell formed by two parallel glass plates, on the internal sides of which there are electrodes made out of optically transparent electrically conducting material, for example indium dioxide or tin oxide. The internal surface of the plates with electrodes undergoes a special processing to align the liquid crystal material. After assembling the cell, it is filled with liquid crystal, which forms a layer of 5–20 μm, which constitutes the active medium which changes its optical properties (the angle of rotation of the polarization plane) under the influence of electric field. The change of optical properties is registered in the cross-oriented polarizers, which are affixed on the outer surfaces of the cell.
The general drawback of devices of this kind is low brightness, low contrast and quite high energy consumption. The structure of other known displays comprises large number of layers of substantial thickness, which have substantially different refraction coefficients. In each of these there are substantial losses of light due to absorption, as well as due to reflection at the boundary between the layers. In addition, the known devices have limited viewing angle.
The closest prior art is the liquid crystal information displays implemented as a flat cell comprising two flat parallel plates forming the display panels. The characteristic of the known displays is the substantial simplification of design due to fewer layers used in the display, the decrease of their thickness, the possibility of using internal polarizers and the possibility of incorporating the functions of several layers in a single layer. Thus for example, a layer of polarizer obtained from oriented supramolecular complexes of a dichroic dye and formed on the internal surface of the panel can simultaneously serve the function of the polarizer itself as well as the function of liquid crystal alignment layer; and besides the technology of obtaining this kind of layers implies obtaining very thin films of high quality and high optical characteristics.
The drawback of the known displays is their low brightness and low contrast, which is due to the absence of optical coordination of all elements in the system, which leads to substantial losses.